Giants of the Cenozoic

Who are the giants from the title? Those are the mammals that lived in the Cenozoic period. The book is an instructive picture book that explains and shows who trampled and rumbled the Earth after the extinction of the dinosaurs. We literally have piles of books about dinosaurs, while we practically know nothing about all the other prehistoric animals. This is not only a children's book but a book for all ages, as it teaches us many new things. It is accompanied by a foreword, written by paleontologist Matija Križnar, who introduces the Cenozoic period and the development of large mammals. Likewise, the author herself wrote an introduction, in which she explains to the reader where she got the idea for the book and how went her thorough research, that required a lot of visits to museums all over Europe and many talks with paleontologists. The book presents 19 mammals with a scientific (natural, paleontological) illustrations. Each illustration is accompanied by a brief description of interesting characteristics and some basic information about the animal (when and in what areas it lived, its height, weight, and genus). For a more precise idea about how big those creatures really were, the author adds a dynamic illustration of a dog next to each of them. In some instances, this dog looks no more than a tiny image. However, that is not all! The book is equipped with a special line grid, with which the drawn animals can also be animated, ie. they can be revived and set in motion. This will certainly be of a great interest for children, although, as already mentioned, Tracing Giants is an extremely aesthetic book for all ages.